Newslinks for Friday 8th April 2016

“David Cameron finally admitted last night that he had profited from more than £30,000 in an offshore tax haven. After days of pressure, the Prime Minister acknowledged that he had benefited from a controversial fund set up by his late father Ian… However, the revelations brought a fusillade of criticism from opposition figures. John Mann, a Labour member of the Commons Treasury committee, branded him a hypocrite and called for him to resign.” – Daily Mail

John McTernan: Cameron has disastrously mishandled the crisis over his tax affairs

“Did David Cameron feel that there was something questionable about his holdings in Blairmore? Why else would he sell his stake in January 2010? Given that the PM knew his own actions in relations to his Dad’s firm – and his own motivations – he either didn’t tell his staff the truth last week or they colluded in this appalling mishandling.” – Daily Telegraph

Gove leads revolt against pro-EU ‘propaganda’…

“Eurosceptic Tories last night vowed revenge against David Cameron over his decision to spend £9.3 million sending pro-Brussels ‘propaganda’ to every home in Britain. Justice Secretary Michael Gove savaged the decision to use taxpayers’ money on what he described as a nakedly political attempt to sway the result of the EU referendum and said the funds would have been much better spent on the cash-strapped NHS.” – Daily Mail

Mark Wallace: Free traders should not thank the EU for banning protectionism

“Given that such protectionist measures are a bad idea, should we therefore be grateful to Brussels for forbidding Parliament from pursuing such unwise measures? No. We might ban policies, but we cannot ban ideas. Simply forbidding Parliament from considering protectionism has not extinguished the concept, nor has it prevented it from gaining a renewed popularity.” – City AM

Left and right need to stand up for free trade – Philip Collins, The Times (£)

Ministers 1) Teachers ‘rejoice’ as Morgan backs down on testing

“Former education secretary Michael Gove, who pioneered the scheme, said it would ‘advance social justice’ by rewarding schools that achieve the most progress. But on Thursday, in a climbdown for Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, the Department for Education said it would not be using the tests as an accountability measure for the next two years as the results would ‘not be sufficiently comparable’.” – Daily Mail

Ministers 2) Hunt stands firm and insists he will impose new contract as strike escalation looms

“Jeremy Hunt has inflamed the dispute with junior doctors by insisting “the matter is closed” and he will impose the new contract on them, despite unprecedented protests by medics. The health secretary also insisted that history would judge him right to force new terms and conditions on England’s 45,000 junior doctors, despite the wave of concern across the NHS and medical profession that his move has triggered.” – The Guardian

Fraser Nelson: Tories may live to regret this shameless generational discrimination

“To abolish the deficit, George Osborne was forced to ask: who is the government for? And he found an answer: those unable to make a living on their own. They’d be protected; others would have to fend for themselves. Children would be spared the worst of austerity; pensioners would enjoy record levels of state support. The pain would fall, almost exclusively, on those unlucky enough to be of working age.” – Daily Telegraph

Scotland: Davidson insists the Tories offer the best opposition to the SNP…

“Conservatives could replace Labour as the most viable opposition to Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP the Tory leader in Scotland has said. Arguing that only her party can offer a “clash of ideas” necessary to hold the Scottish Nationalist party to account, Ruth Davidson said: “On tax, on policy and on the great dividing line of this political age – the union – we are the party which can give what so many people want: a check on the SNP’s power.”” – The Guardian

Tories to push for repeal of controversial ‘named person’ law – The Scotsman

Welsh Conservatives plan to freeze council tax if they win power in Cardiff Bay – Wales Online

…as Farage launches Scottish campaign with pitch of booze, cigarettes, and air guns

Party misspells Welsh names of two constituencies on Assembly election site – Wales Online

Corbyn attacked for inaction on anti-Semitism

“Jeremy Corbyn has come under attack from Britain’s leading Jewish representative group for an inert response to claims of antisemitism within the Labour party. Jonathan Arkush, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, criticised the Labour leader’s “deeply disturbing” defence of his brother, who criticised a Jewish MP after she raised concerns about the rise of antisemitism in the party.” – The Times (£)

Massive fire which tore through Cardiff school was started deliberately – Wales Online

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